, 1887-01-15
SAN FRANCISCO IN ,4e.
A Picture OF the Auction
Drunken Miners Good Eortunc.

A Picture of the Auction Room-A
Drunken Miners Good Fortune.
NJ. d. Varigny, in The Revue des
Deux-Mondes, publishes the first Of a
series of remarkable articles on San
Francisco. This first one is devoted to
the phenomenal origin of the great Pa
cifio capital, and incidentally, NJ. d.
Varigny tells us many good stories, one
OF which might have furnished Bret
Harte with Il theme on which to use his
most delicate embroidery. Speaking of
the early growth of business in San Fran
cisco, the author says: 'The auction
room sprang into existence in a night.
1t was a supply in response to an urgent
demand and prospered forthwith. The
auction room of San Francisco had but
a vague resemblance to the usual places
OF that kind. 1t was at once a sort of
banking house, commission depot, shop
and bar. The auctioneer was usually en-
throned upon u hogshead, from which
proud position he looked down upon his
public. There, amid jokes, puns and
more or less spicy pleasantries, he drew
the crowd into mis- shop, shouting out the
sale at auction Of the most heterogeneous
objects; lots Of lands, miners tools, ship
cargoes to deliver, horses to take back
from squatters, clothes, wood and sails,
rice n salt pork, boxes and barrels-all
were piled round about him. He re-
ceived and repeated offers, was prompt
to catch a wink of the eye, talked like a
rattlebox, exciting purchasers to new
ardor. The sales took place from 10
o'clock to Dor Then buyers We're
served with a free lunch invariably com
posed of sea biscuits and Dutch cheese.
smoked salmon or herrings. The drinks
were the only things to be paid for.
Merchandise purchased had to DO taken
away Ii game day
NJ. de Narigny was "A witness i'll one Of
these auction rooms of a very original
scene. TIL auctioneer, Cobb. well known
in San Francisco, had that day sold a GER
tain number of lots of land situated in
Stockton street. The locality was scarcely
attractive. Stockton street was buried i'll
sand at the back of the city; no one had
yet thought of building there. Neverthe-
less, there was a crowd, as the price to
be obtained could serve as the basis of
valuation, and at that time every n
ignored in which direction the city would
grow. Installed upon a package of
planks directly in front Of the a%uctioneer
sat a robustm miner, whose fiery visage in
Dictated that he had made frequent stops
In the bar rooms down by the harbor.
He was battling against sleep, and strug.
gled manfully, nodding his head. The
two first lots were sold for an ounce.
Suddenly, without IL apparent reason,
the a~uctioneer knocked down the third
lot for four ounces. "Your name:" he
said, addressing the sleepy miner. The
fellow raised his head. Tom Tom
what! Tom is no name at ALL tom
Mcguire, said the other, a little taken
aback by this apostrophe. .All right. >"
and the sale wen on. Cobb, with his
eyes fixed on the miner, knocked down
to him successfully five or six lots, taking
in good faith, as a bid, each nod of the
half drunken man. When the auction
was over Tom was asked to pay for his
purchases, but he protested with energy
that he had not bought anything at all.
However, as the auctioneer was firm and
the neighbors agreed, he had to put down
the money. He took from his sack the
5000 or $400 that were asked of him, and
left the shop, saying that he would never
again set foot in San Francisco, where a
drop too much had cost him so dear. He
left the same evening for his camp at
Texas Hill. There, like all miners, he
had ups and downs, but like all miners
again he was SO much in love with his
adventurous existence that he went push
ing his way into the interior as one placer
after another gave out. Four years after
hts unlucky visit to San Francisco, Ma
guire, getting a bad fall from n horse,
was taken to the hospital of Mokelumne
Hill. Thanks to his vigorous constitu-
ton, he recovered, and was getting ready,
without Il dollar in his pocket, to go back
to the mines when a young American,
whose city name and careful dress
indicated that he was from San Fran
CISCO, came to tell him that he wa
charged by n of the largest houses in
that city to find out at what price he
would be disposed to sell his lots of land
in Stockton street. Mcguire no longer
remembered that he owned any land, but
the visitor told him that he had been
hunting vainly for him in the southern
mines, and now, having found him, in.
sisted on carrying him off to San Fran.
cisco, paying all the expenses of the trip.
Tom Mcguire arrived in the city, and
was offered 100000 for each of his lots.
This was not more than their full value
at that time. Mcguire pocketed 500, 900,
and went back to the eastern states bless,
ing his stars and loudly asserting that Oh
h whole there was nothing like a good
square spree from time to time to bring
luck to an honest miner. Inter Ocean.